The annual Coast Run by Earle Page College at the University of New England is a two-day 220km charity event that has raised over $500,000 for the Children’s Medical Research Institute since it began in the 1980s.

A ‘dream team’ contingent of six runners sets off at the crack of dawn, setting the pace and running 5km stints in pairs.

Regular runners have a sleep-in, starting at 7.30am and running the first 5km to the town centre, then hopping on a bus to catch up with the dream team.

From that point, they complete one kilometre relay-style runs, having lunch in Ebor and arriving in Dorrigo for the overnight stop by 6pm.

The next day they head off again at 6am and 7:30am, aiming to reach Coffs Harbour Jetty for a quick dip in the cold sea by 4pm.

Although the event used to come right down Waterfall Way through Bellingen, this practice was discontinued as NSW Police advised the road was too busy, so from Dorrigo the run proceeds to Coffs Harbour via the more secluded and peaceful Coramba Road route. 

With the bus-augmented, relay-style format, each person runs about 30kms over the two days.